Are You Experienced?

As a heterosexual, white male, I suppose it is understandable that I have not experienced discrimination (not knowingly, at least) so I am not by no means an expert on the subject - although as I am now in my late fifties, some sort of age related discrimination may be on the cards at some point soon. In a case that has attracted a good deal of publicity recently, former Apple engineer JK Scheinberg - aged 54 and with 21 years experience with the company - has failed to clinch a job at an Apple Store Genius Bar. Scheinberg retired in 2008 but decided that he wanted to get back into work, and with his background with the company thought that he would be a shoo-in for the role, despite being significantly older than the other interviewees.

JK Scheinberg

 "On the way out, all three of the interviewers singled me out and said: 'We’ll be in touch'.  I never heard back," he told the New York Times. So, was Scheinberg not employed solely due to his age, as has been implied? Apple have not yet commented on this, but their website affirms their commitment to being an equal opportunity employer, and being committed to inclusion and diversity. Which of course amounts to nothing at all, since words are cheap, but on the other hand, could Scheinberg not have been employed because - shock, horror - he wasn't suitable? He must be suitable, you might think, after twenty-one years as an Apple engineer responsible for - among other things - the first builds of OS X for Intel processors. He also worked on A/UX - Apple's implementation of the Unix operating system, and the Rhapsody operating system, so he is obviously highly qualified. "Are you experienced?" they might have asked him, and undoubtedly he is, but is it the right sort of experience?

Because how many people do you think make appointments at Apple's Genius Bar for a Unix related problem? Or have an issue with their Intel processor? Not many would be my guess. People go to the Genius Bar because their iPad is on the blink, the battery in their iPod had died, or because the latest iOS update has bricked their iPhone and no matter how much of a genius Scheinberg might be at back-end, mainframe type stuff, that means diddly squat when dealing with the average Genius Bar query. And of course, he's been out of the organisation for eight years, which in the technology business is a lifetime. That said, it's likely that while his experience and expertise might not be directly relevant to a role on the Genius Bar, it's equally likely that his background would not rule him out entirely as a good candidate for the job.  But, after a career in computer engineering, dealing with similarly minded people, how are his people skills, particularly when faced with a confused, technologically challenged, owner of a new iPhone they cannot make head or tail of?

Updating iOS...

In many ways what happened to Scheinberg is a non-story (unless he decides to take legal action against the company and that becomes some sort of cause célèbre), just one of many that I've seen on media websites and in social media feeds recently. In the days when our news consumption was limited to newspapers, TV and radio, there was only so much news that was printed or broadcast. Now the insatiable appetite of the internet means that the minutiae of life that would never have made it to print is plastered all over the web for our perusal - and increasingly - comment. For example ,there is a story that has appeared in the last week about a car driver getting a parking fine, despite having paid and displayed in a car-park in Poole, Dorset. Apparently Brian Hewlett paid £3 for two hours worth of parking but subsequently received a demand for £100 as when he was asked to enter his car registration number upon buying his ticket, he entered ‘EK002EEUV’ instead of ‘EK02EEU,’ because he was not wearing his glasses.  Maybe Mr Hewlett should have taken more care when entering his registration number. Maybe the company that run the car park should have used a bit of discretion and not penalised someone who had actually paid the parking fee. Maybe the paper that published the story on their website should have spiked it - it isn't a story, and I know that I should not have bothered reading it. It's even less of a story than Mr Scheinberg's tale - which is effectively just 'retired man applies for job and doesn't get it' - but there's little in it.

If Mr Hewlett had worn his glasses, there would have been no story. There wasn't really one anyway.

There is no doubt that legislation that fights discrimination in the workplace - at the recruitment stage and during employment - is a good thing, although there is an argument that it has actually gone too far - and it may be that Mr Scheinberg has a point when he suspects that, given he is at least twice the age of the average Genius Bar employee, his failure to secure a role was based on his age rather than anything else. But consider this too. Scheinberg's motive for applying for the job was that he was finding retirement boring; he was restless and wanted something to do. On his pension from Apple, I somehow suspect that he didn't need the money. So on that basis, a factor in passing him over - presumably in favour of someone younger - could have been that Apple thought it better to employ someone who was competent enough and in need of a job to pay their mortgage, put food on the table and pay their bills rather than a bored, retired Apple engineer who could have done some voluntary work if tackling boredom was his primary objective.

There is a balance to be struck in recruitment between the needs of the company and the rights of the prospective employee. And on the one hand, while experience is important - goodness knows, I often felt that the organisation I worked for seriously undervalued it at times - there's no way to get experience if you cannot get a job. And if you cannot get a job because you are blocked by a bored, retired, former senior employee who wants something to do, isn't that a form of discrimination too?